The newly crowned Miss USA, Kára McCullough, has come under fire for her thoughts on health care.

McCullough, a scientist who works for the government's nuclear regulatory commission, spent Sunday's competition advocating for women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Her credentials (and progressive views) impressed Miss USA viewers—that is, until it came time for McCullough to share her views on health care policy.

“I’m definitely going to say [health care] is a privilege,” McCullough said, responding to a question about whether health care should be a privilege or a right. “As a government employee, I’m granted health care. And I see firsthand that for one, to have health care, you need to have jobs. So therefore we need to continue to cultivate this environment so that we’re given the opportunities to have health care—as well as jobs—for all Americans worldwide.”

I'm sorry, but calling health care a "privilege" Americans should have to work for? Let's not.

When you say that health care is a "privilege," you're implying that some people—in this case, people without jobs—don't deserve it. So that new mother who's taking a few years off work to be with her kids? She doesn't deserve a doctor's visit when she gets the flu. That neighbor of yours who's between jobs? He doesn't deserve treatment when he falls and breaks his ankle. People who are retired or have disabilities? They don't deserve medical care, either. There are countless reasons why someone might not have a job, and none of them justify that person being denied health care.

As Jimmy Kimmel famously said earlier this month: "If your baby is going to die and doesn't have to, it shouldn't matter how much money you make…No parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child's life. It just shouldn't happen." No one should ever be required to earn affordable, life-saving health care. And saying that they should implies that a person's economic output is more valuable than their actual life. That's seriously messed up.

Plus, statements like McCullough's are especially dangerous right now—as Republican lawmakers continue trying to limit access to affordable health care. Options are already limited for people who don't receive health insurance through their employers. And if the GOP health care replacement—the American Health Care Act (AHCA)—makes it through the Senate (it passed the House earlier this month), health care access will only get more restricted.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that under a prior version of the AHCA, 24 million Americans would lose health insurance. The current version includes an amendment that would make it easier for insurers to charge more for health-care coverage when people have pre-existing conditions (everything from pregnancy to acne)—making it harder for them to get the care they need. And other analyses of the AHCA have warned that it allows insurers to charge older enrollees as much as they want, which means people who have aged out of the workforce could have a hard time affording vital medical care.

Twitter reacted accordingly, of course. Many social media users criticized McCullough's stance. They also expressed concern that the newly crowned queen said she didn't want to call herself a feminist. "I don't really want to consider myself—try not to consider myself—like this die-hard, you know, like, 'Oh, I don't really care about men,'" Mccullough said, adding that she preferred the term "equalism" to feminism.